There exists a plurality of situations wherein inlet or outlet tubes, ducts, hoses and the like need to be releasably connected to corresponding inlet or outlet ports. One common example is found in the field of conventional household laundry dryers.
Conventional laundry dryers typically include a relatively heavy and bulky housing. The dryer housing protectively encloses a rotating drum and a heating device so that damp clothes can be tumbled by the rotating drum while being dried by the heating element. A fan also located within the dryer housing progressively evacuates a volume of vapor saturated air generated by the drying process through a dryer outlet port.
The dryer outlet port typically extends through a rear wall part of the dryer housing.
The vapor saturated air flowing out of the dryer exhaust port must be vented out of the room in which the laundry dryer is located to prevent the potential structural problems to the room and the potential health problems to its occupants associated with dampness build-up, growth of mildew and the like.
Different type of exhaust hoses, tubing, ducts and the like are conventionally used to conduct substantial quantities of heated moist air and residual lint from conventional laundry dryers to corresponding room exhaust ports that lead to an external location. Most room exhaust port extend through a wall of a room in which the laundry dryer is located adjacent the latter. A vent is also sometimes provided by removing a window pane for installation of the latter. Regardless of the type of room exhaust port, a suitable hose or tubing is typically installed to interconnect the dryer outlet port to the room outlet port for evacuating the warm moist air and associated residual lint to an outside volume of ambient air.
To prevent several types of unfortunate situations, care must be brought in installing the exhaust tubing and in sealing both ends of the latter. Indeed, if both ends of the exhaust tubing are not properly sealed respectively to the dryer outlet port and the wall outlet port, moist air and/or associated residual lint will escape resulting in mildew, dust and the like with the associated potential health and/or structural damages.
Also, because of the amount of thermal energy involved in the vented air and in the dryer itself, improper exhaust tubing installation may create a fire hazard. Indeed, a kinked or crushed exhaust tubing could create an undesirable air flow restriction causing reduced velocity resulting in lint built-up in locations of reduced velocity. This lint built-up constitutes combustible material in the event of a fire in the dryer.
This type of problem has become particularly prevalent with the popular accordion type vinyl ducts. Indeed. vinyl ducts in particular tend to collect lint along their length when kinked. Moreover, vinyl ducts are made of combustible material. Hence, if a fire should occur in the dryer, it cannot be contained by the exhaust tubing.
A main difficulty in installing laundry dryer exhaust tubing is the limited space available to do the work. Laundry dryers typically are fitted into a space just wide enough to accommodate them. They are typically straddled by walls, a washing machine, a cabinet, a shelving or the like. Typically, therefore, it is practically impossible to make the vent connection after the laundry dryer is in its operational position typically proximate the wall through which the wall exhaust port extends.
Making the connection when the dryer is still spaced several feet from the adjacent wall too often result in not being able to get the laundry dryer close to the adjacent wall after the installation or, if it pushed close to the adjacent wall, the exhaust conduit sometimes gets crushed, kinked and/or flattened resulting in poor air flow. This problem has been further compounded in recent years due to a tendency to place dryers in small closets.
Kinking, bending or otherwise altering the shape of the exhaust conduit, not only potentially creates the hereinabove mentioned drawbacks but also potentially greatly decreases the efficiency of the dryer. Hence, in spite of the initial efficiency of the dryer as manufactured, and the theoretical connection to a freely flowing exhaust, in practice dryers may well not achieve this type of efficiency and moreover, the dryer and/or the vent duct are susceptible to overheating because of inadequate air flow through the vent system, and collection of combustible lint. This type of problem presents itself not only during installation but also when maintenance or replacement of the drying machine is required or when maintenance or cleaning operations need to be performed around the drying machine requiring displacement of the latter.
Several structures have been proposed in the prior art attempting to circumvent the hereinabove mentioned problems. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,334,461 naming Archer Ferguson and George Spectors as inventors issued Jun. 15, 1982 discloses a portable window vent screen that includes an aperture extending therethrough. A ventilator is positioned adjacent the outer surface of the vent screen bolted to an adapter on its inner surface. A flexible hose from a dryer is detachably attachable to the adapter whenever the dryer is used.
The dryer vent disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,334,461 however suffers from being destined to be used only through window screens or the like. It is not adapted for use with conventional wall outlet ports typically located adjacent the intersection between the rear and bottom walls part of the dryer housing.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,257,468 naming Mario Lebrun as inventor, issued Nov. 2, 1993 discloses a dryer air outlet hose coupling. The coupling includes a first coupler having a cylindrical flue releasably anchored to the drying machine back wall, while a second coupler includes a cylindrical flue anchored to the laundry room floor. In one embodiment, the flues are both horizontal while in a second embodiment the flues are vertical. In a third embodiment, one hose coupler is slidable along a ground rail integral to the second hose coupler, the latter being fixed to the ground. An operative position is defined, where the cylindrical flues of the two hose couplers become coaxial to one another. In all cases, by displacing the dryer towards the second coupler, the latter will engage edgewisely the first coupler to become coaxial therewith. A first flexible hose interconnects the first flue to the machine air outlet port, while a second flexible hose interconnects the second flue to the outside.
The structures disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,257,468 suffer from numerous drawbacks including the fact that in order for the coupling device to work the wall or floor mounted outlet port must be positioned in register with the dryer housing. This limits the use of the disclosed coupling device to very specific situations. Also, the disclosed coupling device is such that in order to connect or disconnect the dryer to the outside exhaust port the heavy and cumbersome dryer housing must be displaced. This can prove to be particularly tedious in situations wherein disconnecting the coupling device is frequently performed for cleaning around the dryer, emptying the device from lint or other purposes.
Furthermore, the disclosed coupling device is inherently bulky and thus forms an obstructing structure which can prove to be particularly annoying in situations, for example, wherein a broom or similar cleaning device needs to be inserted between the laundry dryer and the adjacent partition wall and/or floor. Still further, the disclosed coupling device requires mounting of components to the dryer which can alter the external appearance thereof. Accordingly, there exists a need for an improved coupling device.
Advantages of the present invention includes that the proposed coupling device allows for releasable coupling of conventional flexible exhaust tubes to conventional exhaust ports. The proposed device allows for coupling and uncoupling between the flexible exhaust tube and the wall exhaust port when the dryer is in its operational position even when the dryer housing back wall is located proximal to the adjacent partition wall thus reducing the risk of kinking, crushing, flattening or otherwise altering the flexible exhaust tube which may, in turn, result in poor air flow with concurrent risks of reducing the efficiency of the dryer and/or creating a fire hazard.
Furthermore, the exhaust tube can be readily connected and disconnected to and from the wall exhaust port without the need to move the laundry dryer even when the latter is in its operational position. The proposed device allows for ergonomical manipulation thereof so as to facilitate coupling and uncoupling not only during initial installation but in other situations such as during maintenance, cleaning or the like.
The proposed coupling device is specifically designed so as to provide a seal-tight connection between the flexible exhaust tube and the wall mounted exhaust port. Another advantage of the present invention resides in that it allows for connection of the flexible exhaust tube to a wall exhaust port located out of register with the projection of the laundry dryer on the partition wall. Still further, the proposed structure is specifically designed so as to be manufacturable using conventional forms of manufacturing so as to produce a coupling device which will be economically feasible, long lasting and relatively trouble free in operation.